2016 TEMPLETON FREEDOM AWARD WINNER

2016 TEMPLETON FREEDOM AWARD WINNER

Named for the late investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton, the Templeton Freedom Award annually honors his legacy by identifying and recognizing the most exceptional and innovative contributions to the understanding of free enterprise, and the public policies that encourage prosperity, innovation and human fulfillment via free competition. Awarded since 2004, the Templeton Freedom Award beginning in 2013 is generously supported by Templeton Religion Trust.

Made innovative contributions to the field of free enterprise education or policy research

Laid the groundwork for future progress in improving countries’ scores in rankings of economic freedom (e.g., The Index of Economic Freedom or the Economic Freedom of the World report)

The winner of the 2016 Templeton Freedom Award received $100,000 and was honored at Atlas Network's Freedom Dinner on Thursday, November 10, 2016, in New York City. Five additional finalists received $25,000 prizes and travel support to attend Freedom Dinner.

For press-related questions about the Templeton Freedom Award, contact Daniel Anthony, vice president of marketing and communications, at 202-449-8441. For other questions about the Templeton Freedom Award, contact Elisa Bishop, director of institute relations and programs, at: Elisa.Bishop@AtlasNetwork.org or 202-449-8456.

WINNERS

Mission: In high schools across the world, most students graduate without any exposure to the concepts of market economics. The Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI), based in Vilnius, sought to change that by developing its "Economics in 31 Hours" textbook. "Economics in 31 Hours" teaches how property rights, free exchange, profit, and competition shape decision-making in everyday life. The textbook has proven to be wildly popular in its first year, and is now being used by nearly half of the country's 9th and 10th graders.

Mission: In high schools across the world, most students graduate without any exposure to the concepts of market economics. The Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI), based in Vilnius, sought to change that by developing its "Economics in 31 Hours" textbook. "Economics in 31 Hours" teaches how property rights, free exchange, profit, and competition shape decision-making in everyday life. The textbook has proven to be wildly popular in its first year, and is now being used by nearly half of the country's 9th and 10th graders.

FINALISTS

Mission: Although the U.S. welfare state was enacted with the intention of helping the least fortunate, its perverse incentive structure often traps families in poverty and drains state budgets. America’s welfare state has exploded in the past decade, and the number of able-bodied adults on food stamps and Medicaid has doubled, but beginning in 2015 the Florida-based Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) designed and advocated new welfare reform policy that has achieved reform in 22 states and is helping transition 2.7 million people off welfare.

Mission: Although the U.S. welfare state was enacted with the intention of helping the least fortunate, its perverse incentive structure often traps families in poverty and drains state budgets. America’s welfare state has exploded in the past decade, and the number of able-bodied adults on food stamps and Medicaid has doubled, but beginning in 2015 the Florida-based Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) designed and advocated new welfare reform policy that has achieved reform in 22 states and is helping transition 2.7 million people off welfare.

Mission: Despite more than 30 years of economic reforms that have helped transform Israel, its economy remains saddled with bureaucracy and regulation that make life difficult and expensive. The economic reform campaign developed by the Israel Center for Social and Economic Progress (ICSEP), based in Mevaseret Zion, has been named one of six finalists for this year’s prestigious $100,000 Templeton Freedom Award. Through its campaign, ICSEP has designed and enacted an array of successful reforms that include reducing the tax and bureaucratic burden for small businesses, breaking the banking industry’s credit card duopoly, scaling back duty fees, and liberalizing import laws so that goods and services are less expensive for families.

Mission: Despite more than 30 years of economic reforms that have helped transform Israel, its economy remains saddled with bureaucracy and regulation that make life difficult and expensive. The economic reform campaign developed by the Israel Center for Social and Economic Progress (ICSEP), based in Mevaseret Zion, has been named one of six finalists for this year’s prestigious $100,000 Templeton Freedom Award. Through its campaign, ICSEP has designed and enacted an array of successful reforms that include reducing the tax and bureaucratic burden for small businesses, breaking the banking industry’s credit card duopoly, scaling back duty fees, and liberalizing import laws so that goods and services are less expensive for families.

Mission: Nearly half of America’s colleges and universities maintain blatantly unconstitutional speech codes, which are the draconian and illiberal policies that administrators use to silence unpopular and inconvenient speech on campus. That’s why Philadelphia-based FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) is fighting back with its Legislative and Policy Project.

Mission: Nearly half of America’s colleges and universities maintain blatantly unconstitutional speech codes, which are the draconian and illiberal policies that administrators use to silence unpopular and inconvenient speech on campus. That’s why Philadelphia-based FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) is fighting back with its Legislative and Policy Project.

Mission: When government violates the individual and economic liberties of entrepreneurs in Sweden, the Stockholm-based Centre for Justice (Centrum för rättvisa) fights back by defending the dreams of these entrepreneurs in court. The organization’s Litigating for Liberty project has been named one of six finalists for this year’s prestigious $100,000 Templeton Freedom Award. The Centre for Justice has won landmark cases before the European Court of Human Rights, and has a perfect record — 14 out of 14 victories — before the Swedish Supreme Court. Its victories have required trade unions to be held liable for property damages, set precedent for government liability when it violates rights guaranteed by the Swedish Constitution, protected business owners from double jeopardy prosecutions, and more.

Mission: When government violates the individual and economic liberties of entrepreneurs in Sweden, the Stockholm-based Centre for Justice (Centrum för rättvisa) fights back by defending the dreams of these entrepreneurs in court. The organization’s Litigating for Liberty project has been named one of six finalists for this year’s prestigious $100,000 Templeton Freedom Award. The Centre for Justice has won landmark cases before the European Court of Human Rights, and has a perfect record — 14 out of 14 victories — before the Swedish Supreme Court. Its victories have required trade unions to be held liable for property damages, set precedent for government liability when it violates rights guaranteed by the Swedish Constitution, protected business owners from double jeopardy prosecutions, and more.

Mission: The cruel coldness of bureaucracy is never more apparent than when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) keeps potentially life-saving drugs out of reach of terminally ill patients, even after deeming them safe. The Goldwater Institute, based in Phoenix, Ariz., is driving a new national conversation around access to treatments for the terminally ill with its Right to Try Initiative. With this initiative, the Goldwater Institute is forcing movement on policies that promote the access to a fundamental but overlooked human right: the right to save your own life.

Mission: The cruel coldness of bureaucracy is never more apparent than when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) keeps potentially life-saving drugs out of reach of terminally ill patients, even after deeming them safe. The Goldwater Institute, based in Phoenix, Ariz., is driving a new national conversation around access to treatments for the terminally ill with its Right to Try Initiative. With this initiative, the Goldwater Institute is forcing movement on policies that promote the access to a fundamental but overlooked human right: the right to save your own life.

Mexico City-based Instituto Mexicano para la Competitividad (IMCO) was selected as the winner of this year's prestigious $100,000 Templeton Freedom Award for its Anticorruption Reform Initiative for Mexico, 3for3 (also known as "3de3" or "tresdetres"), which created a credible, relevant, and effective anticorruption legal infras...

For the first time in the history of modern Mexican democracy a credible, relevant, and effective anticorruption legal infrastructure exists. It holds Mexican politicians accountable and keeps them honest from the get-go, all thanks to Instituto Mexicano para la Competitividad (IMCO)’s revolutionary “3for3” campaign. As of July...

Awarded since 2004, the Templeton Freedom Award is named for the late investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton. The award annually honors his legacy by identifying and recognizing the most exceptional and innovative contributions to the understanding of free enterprise, and the public policies that encourage prosperity, in...

Awarded since 2004, the Templeton Freedom Award is named for the late investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton. The award annually honors his legacy by identifying and recognizing the most exceptional and innovative contributions to the understanding of free enterprise and the public policies that encourage prosperity, inn...

The history of Canada’s Aboriginal people is one of state dependency and a lack of opportunity. To address these challenges, Macdonald-Laurier Institute for Public Policy (MLI)’s multi-year Aboriginal Canada and the Natural Resource Economy project has made the case that Indigenous engagement in the booming Canadian resource eco...

What began as a modest attempt to create a new dialogue in an otherwise closed and illiberal Brazilian state in 1988 has become a treasured cultural icon and international fixture – Instituto de Estudos Empresariais (IEE)’s annual Fórum da Liberdade has been described as “the Super Bowl of liberalism.” With its audience growing...

Unrealistic campaign promises are a staple in elections across the world, and nowhere has that been truer than in Ghana – until now. Last year, Accra-based IMANI Center for Policy and Education launched its 2016 IMANIFesto Campaign, which estimated the costs and rated the feasibility of all campaign promises. For the first time...

Georgia leads the country in the number of people under correctional supervision – currently 1 in 13 statewide, starkly higher than the 1 in 31 nationwide rate. And two-thirds of those eventually released from prison are likely to be rearrested within three years of their release. Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO) has engaged...

For decades, Tennessee has claimed to be an income tax-free state, even passing a constitutional amendment banning taxes on income. And for decades, this has been a lie – the state has continually taxed income derived from savings, stocks, and bonds since 1929 through its grandfathered-in "Hall Tax." But last year Beacon Center...

In high schools across the world, most students graduate without any exposure to the concepts of market economics. The Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI), based in Vilnius, sought to change that by developing its Economics in 31 Hours textbook, which has been awarded this year’s prestigious $100,000 Templeton Freedom Award....

Atlas Network is pleased to present the six finalists for the 2016 Templeton Freedom Award. The award is generously supported by Templeton Religion Trust and will be presented during Atlas Network’s Freedom Dinner on Nov. 10 in New York City at the historic Capitale. The winning organization will receive a $100,000 prize, and th...

The cruel coldness of bureaucracy is never more apparent than when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) keeps potentially life-saving drugs out of reach of terminally ill patients, even after deeming them safe. The Goldwater Institute, based in Phoenix, Ariz., is driving a new national conversation around access to treatments...

When government violates the individual and economic liberties of entrepreneurs in Sweden, the Stockholm-based Centre for Justice (Centrum för rättvisa) fights back by defending the dreams of these entrepreneurs in court. The organization’s Litigating for Liberty project has been named one of six finalists for this year’s presti...

Nearly half of America’s colleges and universities maintain blatantly unconstitutional speech codes, which are the draconian and illiberal policies that administrators use to silence unpopular and inconvenient speech on campus. That’s why Philadelphia-based FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) is fighting bac...

Despite more than 30 years of economic reforms that have helped transform Israel, its economy remains saddled with bureaucracy and regulation that make life difficult and expensive. The economic reform campaign developed by the Israel Center for Social and Economic Progress (ICSEP), based in Mevaseret Zion, has been named one of...

Although the U.S. welfare state was enacted with the intention of helping the least fortunate, its perverse incentive structure often traps families in poverty and drains state budgets. America’s welfare state has exploded in the past decade, and the number of able-bodied adults on food stamps and Medicaid has doubled, but begin...

In high schools across the world, most students graduate without any exposure to the concepts of market economics. The Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI), based in Vilnius, sought to change that by developing its Economics in 31 Hours textbook, which has been named one of six finalists for this year’s prestigious $100,000 T...

Markets and civil society are buried under a mountain of regulation, and politicians have no incentive to slow the deluge. So many activities, both beneficial and benign, have become subject to legal penalty that anybody could be punished for violating some statute or another. How can people extricate themselves from this web of...

Atlas Network is pleased to present the six finalists for the 2015 Templeton Freedom Award, the winner of which will receive $100,000 and be honored at Atlas Network’s annual Liberty Forum and Freedom Dinner in New York City on Nov. 11–12, 2015.

Providing reliable data about the comparative tax climates of state governments demonstrates to lawmakers that their tax policies can make the difference between economic growth and stagnation. Atlas Network partner the Tax Foundation of Washington, D.C., has been named one of six finalists for this year’s prestigious $100,000 T...

Nearly a decade ago in Australia, the idea of a carbon trading scheme or tax began gaining popularity. It was finally passed in 2011, taking effect the following year. During that entire period and until its repeal, Atlas Network partner the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), based in Melbourne, served as a consistent and leadin...

The legal system should be a tool that serves to protect the rights of citizens, but when government officials abridge those rights, those who suffer aren’t always in a position to mount a challenge in the courts. The Institute for Justice (IJ), an Atlas Network partner based in Arlington, Va., was named one of six finalists for...

The majority of black South Africans do not have titles to property because the effects of apartheid-era policies continue to have consequences today. Atlas Network partner the Free Market Foundation (FMF) of Johannesburg has been named one of six finalists for this year’s prestigious $100,000 Templeton Freedom Award for its Kha...

The West has positioned itself as the driving force of international development, giving rise to a vast, multi-billion dollar poverty industry. Yet the results have been mixed — catastrophic, in some cases — and leaders in the developing world are growing increasingly vocal in calling for change. Atlas Network partner Acton Inst...

The work for freedom and prosperity is never finished, and hundreds of Atlas Network partner organizations are working every day to bring individual liberty, free markets, and peace to their corners of the globe. They are the faces of freedom around the world, and each year Atlas Network’s Liberty Forum & Freedom Dinner celebrat...

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